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Breathe with Me: A Virtual Meditation Coach

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Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 9238))

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Abstract

A virtual agent that guides users through mindfulness meditation sessions is described. The agent uses input from a respiration sensor to both respond to user breathing rate and use deep breaths as a continuation and acknowledgment signal. A pilot evaluation study comparing the agent to a self-help video indicates that users are very receptive to the virtual meditation coach, and that it is more effective at reducing anxiety and increasing mindfulness and flow state compared to the video.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computer and Information Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Ameneh Shamekhi & Timothy Bickmore

Authors
  1. Ameneh Shamekhi
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  2. Timothy Bickmore
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ameneh Shamekhi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Willem-Paul Brinkman

  2. Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Joost Broekens

  3. University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Dirk Heylen

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Shamekhi, A., Bickmore, T. (2015). Breathe with Me: A Virtual Meditation Coach. In: Brinkman, WP., Broekens, J., Heylen, D. (eds) Intelligent Virtual Agents. IVA 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9238. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21996-7_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21996-7_29

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21995-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21996-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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